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Wednesday, November 09, 2005 |
Seems hard to believe, but this is the end of my 2005 USA tour!! The last three weeks have flown by in a blur!
Started the day in Portsmouth High School. Several schools had bussed kids in for the event, so there were lots of fans there, with loads of books to be signed!!! Met Alexandra again (cup cake girl!) and lots of other fans. A very busy but hugely enjoyable event -- just the type of large scale session I wanted for my final day!!!
Scooted over to Hampton Academy next, for another BIG event -- three or four hundred kids, I'd guess! Did my "Lord Loss" reading (which I've done at most of my events here, though I have tried other readings and skecthes, to make things more interesting for myself). Didn't have to sign quite as many books this time, but the line was pleasingly long -- another top-notch school event!
My final visit of the day - and the tour! - was to Manchester City Library. It was an early afternoon event, so I didn't have high hopesof drawing a big crowd, but was delighted to get an extremely decent turnout. Gave "Lord Loss' one last spin, answered my final set of questions, signed my final piles of books -- and that's it!!! All over. Ginny dropped me off at Logan airport in Boston, where I said a sad farewell to Jennifer. She put a lot of hard work into organising this tour, and was brilliant company on the road -- it would have been a LOT duller without her!!!!!!!! Jessie -- you my sweet Scottish bee-AWtch!!!!!!!!
And now it's time (or soon will be) to board my plane and head back home for a bit of rest and recuperation. And then the touring starts all over again for my UK and Ireland tour!!!!!!!
Cheerio, America! I had GINORMOUS fun and hope to be back in the VERY near future!!!! To Jennifer ... the staff at Little Brown ... the teachers, librarians and booksellers ... the escorts who drove me around ... and especially all of the amazing fans who showed up to say hi and have their books signed ... DARREN SHAN SALUTES YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The 20th -- and second last - day of my 2005 USA tour! And it was one of the busiest of the entire tour!!! I started by getting up at 07.00 to do a short radio show on WATD FM. Then went to Norwell Middle School, where I did two events, performing for a few hundred kids at each event. They were incredibly well behaved!!
I went back to Buttonwood Book Store (they arranged the school events) for lunch. I'd come here on my first American tour 4 years ago, so it was nice to meet some old friends! Went to Gates Intermediate School after lunch, for two more events. They were supposed to be big events, with lots of kids, but when I got there I was told that I'd only have about 20 in each group. I asked the librarian if she could increase the numbers, more out of hope than expectation -- in my experience, staff at schools are very reluctant to make any changes on the day of an event. But to my delight she rounded up a few extra classes and the events were very enjoyable in the end.
Did a signing at Buttonwoods at 3.00pm. Lots of fans turned up. I was signing solidly for an hour, then less busily for another hour and a quarter. Said goodbye reluctantly in the end to Totsie, Hal and everybody else, then drove up with Jennifer and our driver, Ginny, to a HUGE Barnes & Noble store in Burlington. Had a medium sized crowd, but the kids were avid Shan fans -- one had driven for 4 hours fom New York to see me!!! Overall,a tiring but highly enjoyable day. The perfect way to end my last full day of the tour!!!!
p.s. When I got to my hotel, I found a big basket full of cup cakes waiting for me!!! Many thanks, Alexandra and co -- they were YUMMY!!!!!
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Tuesday, November 08, 2005 |
Had a few hours off after my first event, so when I finished checking my e-mails, Jennifer and I went to visit a whaling museum. This was a strong whaling community in the past and the museum had lots of fascinating info and whaling artifacts. The only down side for poor Jennifer was that she had to graon through a series of "Aaar's!" and "Shiver me timbers!" -- I couldn't help myself, I just went inot complete over the top Old Sailor mode!!!!!!! "Thar she blows"!!!!!!!!
My second event was at Friends Academy in North Dartmouth. Had a very good turnout, and some VERY excited fans!! The venue was fab too, and those organising it had put on lots of nice treats for the kids attending. I think a jolly good time was had by all!!!!
My final event was at Borders in Kingston. I didn't get a huge crowd, but the numbers were very good for a Monday night public event -- I thought this might be a "no show" or that I'd only have a handful of fans, so I was delighted when I saw plenty of bottoms on seats!!!
Stayed in Cohasset, which is a lovely spot, but alas I didn't get to see too much of it, since I arrived late at night and had to leave early in the morning. Oh well -- maybe I'll get to swing back by one day and take in some more of the scenery ...
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Monday, November 07, 2005 |
Days 17 and 18, and the start of 19! Sorry for the couple of days of inactivity -- didn't manage to get to a computer over the weekend.
Had a great event at the Howard County Library Miller Branch on Saturday. Loads of fans turned up, and it was brilliantly organised. I had to sign fast, as I had a train to catch, but I managed to sign everyone's books in the end. It's always a buzz when you get a large crowd at a public event. I even did my "Must Be Murlough" song at this event -- a special treat for the fans, who responded by joining in whole-heartedly and swaying to and fro in the aisles!!!!!
Got the train to New York after that. Jennifer and I met with one of my editors, Cindy, and a couple of others, for a few drinks, which was nice. I took it easy in the Big Apple -- it was nice to chill for a short while. Slept in late (until midday, almost!), then went for a little walk of the Soho area. Found a store selling cartoon art and spotted a couple of Tim Burton sketches which I liked, so I picked them up.
Then met up with Jennifer again and got the train to Providence. It was an hour delayed, but that was OK -- I'm used to delays like that on the British trains!!!! :-) The hotel, the Biltmore, is a lovely old-style hotel, and they put me up in the Presidential Suite which was VERY large and VERY swish and came equipped with a jacuzzi shower which was lots of fun once I figured out how to operate it!!!
Just finished my first event of Monday, at Kickemuit Middle School on Rhode Island. The librarian has very kindly let me use her PC to check my e-mails and get up to date. I've a few more things to do, then I'll be moseying on to my next event. More on that later ...
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Saturday, November 05, 2005 |
Had my first lie-in on the week today! Didn't have to get up until 08.15 -- hurrah!!!! Shaved, checked my e-mails, then went with Jennifer and our driver, Greg, to my first event at D.C. Public Library. There was a teacher and 3 kids there when we arrived. The teacher smiled and introduced himself and said that he'd have liked to bring more kids but he could only fit three in his car! For an awful moment I thought (and Jennifer did too) that something had gone wrong and that these three kids were going to be my entire audience!!!!!! But then we met the librarian and learned that more classloads were on their way, and minutes later I had a packed room -- phew!!!!! Acted out my "Woman gets her hand bitten off by the wolf man" scene from book one. The volunteers who came up to assist me were all very strong, which made it a lot of fun. Plenty of questions afterwards too.
Got a Carvel strawberry milkshake for the first time ever on our way to the next event -- tasty!! The event was actually a lunch at Francis Hammon High School. Lots of fun! Just ate and answered questions from the kids -- all boys, part of a boy's reading club at the school. Nice and relaxed, and the kids were huge fans of my books. The perfect lunch event!!!
A long drive to my next event, at the Carroll County Arts Council in Westminster. We arrived about half an hour late, because of a slight over-run at the lunch event, and very bad traffic. Had a huge crowd, full of enthusiastic and probing questions. Had to sign at super-swift speed to make sure everyone got their book signed in good time (not wanting to be late for my next event), so it was a bit of a rush for me, which was a pity, as I'd have liked more time to chat to the people who arranged the event, and have a proper look around the lovely old theatre. Oh well, hopefully I can return one day and arrive early next time!!!!!!
Final event was at Borders at Leesburg Pike. Only had a small crowd at this one, the smallest since Seattle, I think. But those who did turn up were hardcore fans -- one girl had flown in from Atlanta just to see me!!!! The good side of having a small crowd was that I was able to write messages in more of the books than I normally can. (Usually, if there's a big crowd, if a fan has more than one book, I'll dedicated one to them and put a message in it and date it, then just sign the rest. When I have fewer fans, I'm able to put dedications in several of their books.)
Met a friend of mine from Napa after the event, Suzanne Fox, who I first met on my last tour of the States. Went for a meal with her, her daughter, Jennifer and Greg. It was nice to catch up and chat about general sort of stuff. And now I'm back at my hotel. Once I've signed off here, it's up to bed with the Shanster, to enjoy another lie-in tomorrow -- hurrah!!!!!!!
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Friday, November 04, 2005 |
The fifteenth day of the tour ...
My phone rang at 4.45 -- a mistaken wake-up call!!!! Groaned and tried to get back to sleep, but couldn't drop off properly. Was picked up at 7.30, then drove out to Salem, about an hour outside Milwaukee, for an event in the Community Library, followed by an event in a nearby school (whose name eludes me). It was quite off the beaten track (like the school I went to yesterday), so the kids and parents were VERY enthusiastic!!! I thought a school would be coming in for the first event in the library, but it turned out to be a public event. Some of the kids there had a day off school, but others bunked-off!!!! My kind of fans!!!!!!! I liked kids and parents who don't stick to the rules all the time!!
:-)
Arrived at the airport a couple of hours ahead of my flight. Had a bite to eat, then proceeded to security. I took off my shoes as I always do over here in the States (an absolutely needless procedure, by the way, but since most airports insist on it, I figure "What the hell -- just go with the flow!"). But the guy at this checkpoint also told me to remove my SWEATSHIRT!!!! That's the first time, in all the airports in the world that I've been to, that I've been asked to do that! When I asked why, he got a very serious look on his face and said that "a few years ago" a couple of women in baggy sweatshirts boarded a plane in Chechnya and blew it up! I just looked at him blankly and said "They blew up a plane with a sweatshirt?!?" He started to babble then, but I just sneered, handed him my sweatshirt and moved on. The world is full of power-crazy idiots in positions of very mild authority. I find it's easiest just to humour them. You can't argue with a moron, so why try? Besides, with people like that, their workmates will always back them up, so I didn't want to argue with him and have him turn it into a "This guy threatened to blow up our plane!!!" story. When you come face-to-face with a loser who has a bit of power, the best thing is to just walk on by and leave them to rule the roost in their ridiculous imaginary tower of power.
Got to Washington D.C. early and met Jennifer, my publicist, at the airport. I have a rare free night, so once I'm through typing up this, I'm going back to my room to have a nice long bath, then maybe watch a film, or perhaps just channel surf. I have a nice lie-in tomorrow too, so I should be fresh and raring-to-go for my Friday and Saturday events!!!!
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Thursday, November 03, 2005 |
I'm two-thirds of the way through my American tour, and I received wonderful news tonight, which makes all the hard work worthwhile, and gives me an extra buzz to finish my third week on a high:
my "Cirque Du Freak" series has re-entered the New York Times Top 10 Bestsellers Chart at Number 7!!!!!!!
I've been on the chart several times before (the latest a month or so ago), but it's always a treat to spot my name in among the bestsellers!!!! Many thanks to my hordes of Shansters for shooting my back into the chart!!
Had good events today. Started by re-visiting a school where I'd been before -- CICS West Belden Campus. Last year, they put on a show of "Cirque Du Freak", which was great. This year they did "The Vampire's Assistant" and it was just as slick and enjoyable!! Some of the cast members had been in the previous production, while others were new to the scene. I got a huge kick out of watching them bring my characters to life. They'd put a load of work into it, learning their lines, building a set, and making themselves up. I hope all the kids of the school enjoyed it as much as I did -- from the rapturous applause, I think they did!!! I decided I couldn't follow a play like that with one of my own scenes, so I just got one of the actors up to interview me, then took questions from the crowd and signed books. Walked out VERY happy!!!!!
My escort, Debbie, took me to a Chicago landmark for lunch -- Super Dawgs. It's supposed to serve up the best hot dogs and burgers in the city!!! I've got to say, my dog was mighty tasty, and so were the fries and strawberry malt!! Next time I'm back, I want to try the burger ...
A long drive to Dakota Jr-Sr High School after that. It was in a real out-of-the-way spot, which I quite liked -- it's nice to get off the beaten track, out of the big cities, every once in a while, and go somewhere different. I don't get to do that often in the States, because we have to try to fit in as many venues as possible -- two hours on the road is two hours I could be spending in a school. So this was a little treat for me.
Another two hour drive after that, up to Milwaukee. I'm staying in a lovely hotel, the Pfister. Very swish!!! Did an event at the Harry W Schwartz Bookshop on North Oakland Avenue. Got a good sized crowd (50-60 has been the average for public events on this tour so far), and lots of in-depth questions about writing and my books. The questions I get vary from event to event, which keeps the process interesting for me. Sometimes (usually in schools) the questions can be only mildly stimulating -- "What's your favourite movie?" "What's your favourite sport?" "What's your favourite band?" etc. etc. I always answer the questions as honestly and brightly as I can -- I never cut a kid down for asking a question -- but I do prefer it when the queries are more on the probing side. Tonight I had to think fast and hard to keep up with all the questions, and that's the way I like it!!!!
Now I'm off to celebrate being a New York Times Bestselling Author again -- by going to bed early and getting a good night's sleep!!!!!!!!
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Wednesday, November 02, 2005 |
Day 13 - but I'm not superstitious!!! First, an apology. I was quite worked up yesterday, after my morning snafu, and didn't pay as close attention to my wording as I should have I ended up giving the impression that the staff at Beito Juarez were to blame for the situation, and that was wrong and entirely unfair. They had organised the morning under the impression that I was happy to do 4 events, because nobody had told them otherwise. The problems arose because of communication lapses between the bookstore and my publicist. Andersons is a geat store, and Jennifer is a great publicist, but sometimes these things happen. It wasn't the fault of Benito Juarez, and I didn't mean to blame them -- my frustration just came out that way. So, a big SORRY to all involved at B.J. -- you took flak that wasn't intended for you, and which you didn't deserve.. That's the problem with a blog -- things can be said without the right measure of thought!! In future I'll try to let myself cool down before taking any wild shots!!!!!
Now for today... My first event was a school event. I spoke to a group of about 400 kids. I like big groups like that. I haven't done many events on that scale on this tour, so I got a good buzz out of it!!! Had a few hours off after that. Checked e-mails, had lunch, then went for a short walk.
Next I did a public event at Schaumberg library. I was very pleased to be able to come here. On my last American tour, I was scheduled to come to Schaumberg, but my flight was delayed and the event had to be cancelled. It all went smoothly this time though. Had a good crowd, including several Japanese fans with Japanese versions of my books. Everyone was highly impressed by them -- the quality and beauty of the Japanese books always surprises fans in other countries!!!!!
My final event was at Skokie Library, where I had gone to on my previous visit here. It was nice to see some familiar faces, and I think the questions could have gone on all night if there had been time!!!!!!!
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Tuesday, November 01, 2005 |
On a dodgy TV web keyboard, so will keep this short! Had lots of fun at Anderson's in Downer's Grove. A large crowd of mostly dedicated Shan fans. Read from "Lord Loss', answered questions, then finished with my song, "Must be Murlough", which I hadn't performed in ages! Everyone joined in, and many were literally swaying in the aisles!!!! Great fun! Signed lots of books afterwards, then drove on to my hotel for a good night's sleep.
Happy halloween to freaks, vampires and demons everywhere!!!!!
Happy Halloween -- part one Day got off to a dodgy start! Had to get up early (6.10) which was bad enough! Got to the school (Benito Juarez High) on time, only to find out that they wanted me to do four events back to back!! My publicist had heard about this last week, and had asked the people involved to re-schedule, since that was WAY too much to ask of me -- but obviously our request was ignored!!! I was furious, especially as I still have a cold. I hate it when people try to take advantage and over-work me. A those who've met me on this tour will, I hope, agree, I always try to give good value, and push myself hard. But for some, that isn't enough and they want even more.
In the end I spoke at the first 2 events, then just signed at the second two. The staff at the school were lovely, and had gione to a lot of effort to make me feel welcome. It's just a pity they hadn't realised that they were looking for more than I could give them.. I think I'll have to start issuing guidelines for future events, to prevent situations like this from happening again.
Anyway, half the kids got to hear me speak, and they all got their books signed if they had one, so overall it still went pretty well, I think. My head was pounding long before the end (my cold is making a comeback!), but it'll take more than a blocked nose and headache to stop Shan in his tracks!!!
Paid a quick, fun visit to Ruiz school next. Answered questions, had lunch, and signed lots of books, all in the space of just over half an hour!! This was a last-minute, add-in event, which I'm glad I was able to squeeze in. I'm just sorrry we didn't have a bit more time, to do a full event,
From there it was on to Pickard School. The kids were lively and a bit fidgety, but they gave me a nice welcome and weren't afraid to get involved!!
Now I'm having a short rest, before heading out for my Halloween booksigning party in Downers Grove. More on that in my next report!!!!
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